The Playoffs begin with Round 29 of the 2026 SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on September 12, kicking off the fourth playoff season. This will be the first time the opening round has been held somewhere other than zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.
Last year, Jett Lawrence won $3.7 million after scoring his third championship in as many years. This year, he will sit on the sidelines and watch while a new champion is crowned. Jett announced after Ironman that he will undergo surgery to repair his foot and ankle injury.
The 2026 SMX Playoffs will go down as the tightest battle to date and in terms of points, it will not be bettered. Jett and Hunter tied in points with Jett securing the title on the strength of three moto wins to Hunter’s one.
Jett’s injury opens the door for the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross champion Ken Roczen and Pro Motocross’ titlist Hunter Lawrence to shoot for the million dollar bonus that goes along with winning the 450 division.
Chase Sexton won the inaugural round of the SMX Playoffs in 2023, but since then, it has been either Jett and Hunter at the top of the podium.
Hunter enters as the No. 1 seed this week after strong showings in both Supercross and Motocross, but he might not want to see the following statistic. A top seed has never won the SMX Championship.
Chase Sexton was the No. 1 seed in 2023 and 2024; he finished third and seventh, respectively, in those two campaigns. Justin Cooper was the top seed last year. He finished fifth.
In two previous championship attempts, Hunter has finished exactly the same in the three rounds, getting off to a slow by finishing fourth in Round 1, winning the second round, and then finishing second to his brother, Jett, in the final round.
Seven riders have raced in all of the SuperMotocross through the end of last season. They are
Jett, Roczen, Chase Sexton, Dylan Ferrandis, Cooper Webb, Shane McElrath, and Dean Wilson.
Jett and Sexton will not race this year, leaving only five riders. McElrath and Wilson have to make their way into the show via the Wild Card race.
Hunter is clearly favored and despite a modest effort last year and skipping the Motocross season, no one can discount Roczen, but the battle for the podium is likely to be wide open.
Jorge Prado improved his Supercross skills this year with podiums in the first and last race. In the Motocross finale, he swept the motos at Ironman and brings momentum to the track.
The retiring Eli Tomac would like nothing more than to end his career with one more championship. He is at his best in sprints like this three-round series.
And with Jett out of the picture, Haiden Deegan could easily score his first 450 victory if Hunter stumbles.
250 Notes
Cole Davies has the opportunity to become the first rider to win all three SuperMotocross championships in a single season.
Jett moved from the 250 class to 450s in 2023; last year, Deegan hit the ground hard while attempting to intentionally crash Jo Shimoda in an effort to keep him from winning the championship.
Deegan was unsuccessful; Shimoda took the title.
Shimoda returns this week to defend his title and his key to success has been consistency. In nine playoff round, he’s failed to podium only twice and never finished worse than fourth. Last year, he finished third overall in the first two rounds before winning the the final two rounds.
Along with Shimoda, Ryder DiFrancesco and Levi Kitchen are the only riders to compete in every 250 SMX round.
2026 SuperMotocross Top-10 finishers
450s
Hunter Lawrence (11 wins, 21 podiums, 24 top-fives, 27 top-10s) [15 Moto wins] &
Ken Roczen (5 wins, 11 podiums, 15 top-fives, 17 top-10s) [3 Moto wins] *
Eli Tomac (4 wins, 9 podiums, 12 top-fives, 14 top-10s) [1 Moto win]
Jett Lawrence (4 wins, 9 podiums, 10 top-fives, 11 top-10s) [8 Moto wins]
Chase Sexton (2 wins, 3 podiums, 9 top-fives, 15 top-10s)
Cooper Webb (1 win, 9 podiums, 13 top-fives, 22 top-10s)
Jorge Prado (1 win, 7 podiums, 13 top-fives, 19 top-10s) [2 Moto wins]
Haiden Deegan (7 podiums, 8 top-fives, 11 top-10s)
Justin Cooper (4 podiums, 10 top-fives, 16 top-10s) [2 Moto wins]
Malcolm Stewart (1 podium, 3 top-fives, 12 top-10s)
RJ Hampshire (1 podium, 4 top-fives, 12 top-10s)
Lucas Coenen (1 podium, 1 top-five, 1 top-10)
Garrett Marchbanks (5 top-fives, 15 top-10s)
Joey Savatgy (4 top-fives, 11 top-10s)
Dylan Ferrandis (2 top-fives, 19 top-10s)
Justin Hill (2 top-fives, 7 top-10s)
Jason Anderson (2 top-fives, 3 top-10s)
Aaron Plessinger (1 top-five, 11 top-10s)
Justin Barcia (1 top-five, 6 top-10s)
Mikkel Haarup (1 top-five, 6 top-10s)
Jordon Smith (6 top-10s)
Shane McElrath (5 top-10s)
Christian Craig (4 top-10s)
Dean Wilson (3 top-10s)
Colt Nichols (2 top-10s)
Benny Bloss (2 top-10s)
Valentin Guillod (1 top-10)
Jed Beaton (1 top-10)
*Supercross Champion
& Motocross Champion
250s
Cole Davies (10 wins, 15 podiums, 16 top-fives, 18 top-10s) [12 Moto wins] +
Haiden Deegan (7 wins, 8 podiums, 10 top-fives, 10 top-10s) [3 Moto wins] **
Seth Hammaker (2 wins, 8 podiums, 11 top-fives, 12 top-10s) [3 Moto wins]
Julien Beaumer (2 wins, 4 podiums, 7 top-fives, 13 top-10s) [2 Moto wins]
Levi Kitchen (1 win, 10 podiums, 18 top-fives, 19 top-10s) [3 Moto wins]
Jo Shimoda (1 win, 6 podiums, 9 top-fives, 10 top-10s) [1 Moto win]
Chance Hymas (1 win, 6 podiums, 6 top-fives, 12 top-10s) [3 Moto wins]
Max Anstie (1 win, 3 podiums, 5 top-fives, 9 top-10s)
Nate Thrasher (1 win, 2 podiums, 4 top-fives, 12 top-10s) [1 Moto win]
Pierce Brown (1 win, 2 podiums, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Sacha Coenen (1 win, 1 podium, 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s) [3 Moto wins]
Ryder DiFrancesco (6 podiums, 13 top-fives, 17 top-10s)
Cameron McAdoo (3 podiums, 5 top-fives, 5 top-10s)
Daxton Bennick (2 podiums, 6 top-fives, 11 top-10s)
Michael Mosiman (2 podiums, 4 top-fives, 10 top-10s)
Landen Gordon (2 podiums, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Devin Simonson (1 podium, 1 top-five, 7 top-10s)
Nick Romano (1 podium, 1 top-five, 6 top-10s)
Caden Dudney (1 podium, 1 top-five, 4 top-10s)
Kayden Minear (4 top-fives, 10 top-10s)
Carson Mumford (3 top-fives, 9 top-10s)
Maximus Vohland (2 top-fives, 9 top-10s)
Coty Schock (2 top-fives, 8 top-10s)
Henry Miller (1 top-five, 5 top-10s)
Casey Cochran (1 top-five, 3 top-10s)
Hunter Yoder (7 top-10s)
Drew Adams (6 top-10s)
Dilan Schwartz (5 top-10s)
Parker Ross (4 top-10s)
Derek Kelley (4 top-10s)
Lux Turner (4 top-10s)
Cullin Park (3 top-10s)
Avery Long (2 top-10s)
Jalek Swoll (2 top-10s)
Maximus Vohland (2 top-10s)
Kyle Peters (2 top-10s)
Marshal Weltin (2 top-10s)
Josh Varize (2 top-10s)
Anthony Bourdon (1 top-10)
Luke Neese (1 top-10)
Izaih Clark (1 top-10)
Gavin Towers (1 top-10)
Robbie Wageman (1 top-10)
Francisco Garcia (1 top-10)
Brodie Connolly (1 top-10)
** Supercross East Champion
+ Supercross West Champion; Pro Motocross champion
[Moto wins include Feature wins from the Supercross series.]
Recent SMX Playoff races
450s
2025 Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Jett Lawrence (Followed by Hunter Lawrence, Eli Tomac)
2025 Dome at America’s Center: Hunter Lawrence (Jett Lawrence, Eli Tomac)
2025 zMax Dragway: Jett Lawrence (Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac)
2024 Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Jett Lawrence (Hunter Lawrence, Eli Tomac)
2024 Texas Motor Speedway: Hunter Lawrence (Chase Sexton, Jett Lawrence)
2024 zMax Dragway: Jett Lawrence (Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton)
2023 LA Coliseum: Jett Lawrence (Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb)
2023 Chicagoland Speedway: Jett Lawrence (Ken Roczen], Chase Sexton)
2023 zMax Dragway: Chase Sexton (Ken Roczen, Dylan Ferrandis)
250s
2025 Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Jo Shimoda (Seth Hammaker, Tom Vialle)
2025 Dome at America’s Center: Jo Shimoda (Seth Hammaker, Nate Thrasher)
2025 zMax Dragway: Haiden Deegan (Seth Hammaker, Jo Shimoda)
2024 Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Pierce Brown (Haiden Deegan, Jordan Smith)
2024 Texas Motor Speedway: Haiden Deegan (Tom Vialle, Jo Shimoda)
2024 zMax Dragway: Haiden Deegan (Julien Beaumer, Levi Kitchen)
2023 LA Coliseum: Haiden Deegan (Jo Shimoda, RJ Hampshire)
2023 Chicagoland Speedway: Hunter Lawrence (Jo Shimoda, Haiden Deegan)
2023 zMax Dragway: Jo Shimoda (Tom Viall, Haiden Deegan)
Motocross Previews
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